As Long As it Yields, José García Oliva

The first solo exhibition in Scotland by Venezuelan artist José García Oliva, As Long As It Yields presents a new body of work examining mechanisms of agricultural and labour extraction sustained by overseas seasonal worker schemes and land exploitation, operating within systems of deferred responsibility.

This framework is set in contrast to romanticised notions of the rural landscape as an idyllic and picturesque paradise of pastoral abundance. This work emerges from conversations, gatherings, and drawings developed in collaboration with agricultural workers supported by the Worker Support Centre and the Justice Is Not Seasonal campaign.

Opening Night 28th March

To mark the opening of José García Oliva’s exhibition, we’re launching the first event of the Baile/Baile x Timespan collaboration.

Baile/Baile, meaning dance in Spanish and village in Gaelic, is Scotland’s most remote club night, co-founded by Sigi Whittle and Jemima Fasakin in Ullapool. It comes to Helmsdale for a one off rural club night bringing music, movement, and collective joy to Timespan. More information and tickets coming soon.

Bio

José García Oliva is a Venezuelan artist living and working in London. His practice focuses on outsourcing systems, migrant labour, and the hierarchies that sculpt everyday urban life, interrogating how these structures are experienced, negotiated, and reproduced within shared social spaces. He works through long-term collaborations that prioritise co-authorship and ongoing relationships, shaping how the work is made, shown, and circulated. His projects often unfold through enacted social exchanges or site-responsive provocations, taking the form of performances, drawings, sculptures, and public interventions.

Recent exhibitions and commissions include Welcome isn’t a Doormat (Metal Culture), Tonada de Galopeo (Abra, Venezuela), I’m listening to what you’re not saying and it’s very loud (V&A), Out of Hours (Lancaster Arts), and How May I Serve You? (Axisweb, ACE and SET Studios), alongside residencies at Gasworks, Casa Wabi, Hospitalfield, and SOMA. His awards include the UK Ibero-American Visual Art Prize (2021), The Augustus Martin Prize (2020), and Image of the Year awarded by Bozar, Brussels (2020). Oliva graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2020 and is currently a lecturer at Central Saint Martins.